Ananda World Brotherhood Colonies

“This day marks the birth of a new era. My spoken words are registered in the ether, in the Spirit of God, and they shall move the West…. Self-Realization has come to unite all religions…. We must go on — not only those who are here, but thousands of youths must go North, South, East and West to cover the earth with little colonies, demonstrating that simplicity of living plus high thinking lead to the greatest happiness!”
— Paramhansa Yogananda, from The New Path, by Swami Kriyananda. The photo (left) was taken on the occasion of this talk.

The establishment of world brotherhood communities was a long time dream of Yogananda. He spoke enthusiastically up until the very end of his life about this dream. In his Autobiography of a Yogi he exclaimed, “An urgent need on this war-torn earth is the founding, on a spiritual basis, of numerous world-brotherhood colonies”. (Note: These words were edited out in the late 1950s.)

One of the aims and ideals of his organisation, while he was alive, was “to spread a spirit of world brotherhood among all peoples and to aid in the establishment, in many countries, of self-sustaining world brotherhood colonies for plain living and high thinking”. He spoke of this dream just a few months before his passing to a disciple, Kamala Silva (see link to the passage from Kamala’s book below).

Ananda is the fulfillment of Yogananda’s dream of establishing world brotherhood colonies, where spiritual seekers could gather together and practise “plain living and high thinking”. These colonies were envisioned by Yogananda many years before the community movement began in America. During his lifetime, Yogananda tried to fulfill his dream, but the world at that time wasn’t ready for such an unusual approach to life.

Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda, was inspired by Yogananda’s ideal, and began the first colony outside Nevada City, California in 1968. He named it Ananda, which is the Sanskrit word for Divine Joy.

Since then, Ananda has grown into a worldwide network of spiritual communities that includes thriving world brotherhood colonies all over the world including our our first world brotherhood community in India near the city of Pune.

For links to Ananda colonies and centers around the world, view this link to Ananda Worldwide. Each Ananda colony has between 60 and 300 residents, including children. Residents practise Yogananda’s techniques of Hong Sau, Energisation and Kriya Yoga.

Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 48: In the first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda speaks at length about world brotherhood colonies. Read Chapter 48, from the online Autobiography of a Yogi, to see what he says. (Please note: you will be redirected to Ananda Worldwide to see this book.)

The desire for equality with others is a delusion; we are equal only in the fact that we are all children of God. Life, otherwise, is like a ladder.

The lower animals are helped upward in their evolution by association with human beings.

Relatively unaware people are helped upward by serving those who are more highly evolved. The caste system in India originally recognized these realities: It wasn’t hereditary, and was never intended to be suppressive. It simply indicated the right direction for humanity to develop—from body-bound (kayastha) to freedom from ego-bondage.

“One moment in the company of a saint,” it has been said, “will be your raft over the ocean of delusion.” The company of persons more highly evolved than oneself can be uplifting. In the case of the devotee who seeks God, saints are the best company. And best of all is it to be guided by a true guru.